good morning. i'm chris jansing. the question this morning is how worried should we be? the terror threat continues. 19 american outposts remain closed across the arab world and be shut through the week. >> i can tell you, david, this is the most that i've seen the last several years. >> i have to 'this is one of the most incredible threats i've seen perhaps since 9/11. >> i had a briefing with the vice president, it is scary. al qaeda is on the rise in this part of the world. >> there is no new threat this morning. the state department decided to keep many embassy consulates closed out of abundance of caution. intelligence people are

concerned what they call a significant event. either one large attack or simultaneous attacks around the world. al qaeda's affiliate in yemen seems to be behind this plot. >> the announcement itself may also be designed to interrupt al qaeda planning, on to put them off stride, to put them on the back foot, to let them know that we are aletter and that we are on at least to a portion of this plot line. >> i want to bring in ambassador mark ginsburg and david rhodes. ambassador, we know this threat is specific enough to be credible but too vague to know where it will take place. the president has been meeting with his national security team. does this have to be a really big deal for them to continue to keep so many of these embassies closed? >> absolutely. i can't recall a situation where we have closed so many embassies for such a long period of time. and just based on the

confirmation of the intelligence briefings you just showed from members of congress, it's a unfortunate remind remember that while with we may have taken out osama bin laden and decimated a good part of the central command of al qaeda, we must continue to realize and we tend to forgot that these franchise cells throughout the middle east have proliferated and it's extraordinary important for us to understand why that threat is diffused for that very reason. >> let's talk about one of those cells. we keep hearing about al qaeda in the arab peninsula. they have an incredibly skilled bombmaker. what else can you tell us about them and how they might be involved? >> it's unclear at this point. there were tli drone strikes in yemen five days last week and a lot of activity going on there. they tried to carry out the 2009 bombing of an airliner flying in detroit that was an underwear

bomb. there is increasing sophisticating from that in yemen. problems in yemen troops have been sort of not fighting. they have been rebelling against the government. i think yemen is a real challenge for the obama administration. they have tried to use drone strikes there. they have tried training and it has not worked well. i think they might need to reassess what they are doing in yemen. >> ambassador, it's not just interviewee closings but a worldwide travel lert for americans. i was surprised when i saw a poll is warning nations about prison breaks in iraq, pakistan and libya. >> i think it's an indication of the fact that after almost 12 years of fighting, the ideology of al qaeda, that we have really not succeeded in breaking the back and, indeed, the ideology seems to be getting root again and to me the most dangerous

thing. the fact we see influence support in the arab world has dropped is an indication this is how al qaeda manages to latch on to that unhappiness and dissatisfaction. so we have to get back to basics and start thinking about going back to where we were after 9/11 to rebuild our diplomacy effort again. >> on top of mind is the attack on the consulate in libya that killed ambassador chris stevens last year on september 11th. is part what we are seeing here in part a red sox to that? >> absolutely. you know, that was a huge issue, clearly the united states, the obama administration tried to downplay. the last thing they want to do is underreact and caught flat footed if another attack on an embassy and another ambassador is killed, it will be an enormous political issue in the united states. yes, domestic politics are driving this and why you see such a sweeping reaction from both parties. neither party wants to look like they are not paying attention here.

>> gentlemen, if you can stay with us. i want to bring in senator richard blumenthal, a member of the armed services committee. good to see you, senator. good morning. >> good morning, chris. >> we keep hearing the comparisons to the chatter heard pre9/11. i know you weren't in the senate then. do you think based on the briefings you've gotten that the threat is that serious? >> the briefings i have received certainly emphasize these threats are specific and credible, equal, if not more serious, to the kind of chatter as the intelligence called it that was heard prior to 9/11. i think the approaching 9/11 date emphasizes the importance for this kind of precautionary sensible measure. the alert that was issued, the closing of embassies, the vigilance that is necessary on the part of ordinary citizens i think are all well done. >> since you have those briefings and information that you can't share with us, the question i've been getting from

friends and family through the weekend which is how worried should i be if they are traveling abroad, if they are getting on a train, if they are getting on a plane anywhere domestically how worried should the average american be? >> the average american should continue to be alert and vigilant and cautious, but certainly not unduly alarmed or panky. the whole point about these precautions is protect an open and democratic society such as we have in the united states. we can't harden every institution in north america nor can we harden all of our embassies to make them absolutely terrorist proof. that is the nature of our open society. but precaution, vigilance, and vigor gh the intelligence gathering function, especially in the wake of some of the concerns, and i've been one to express them, about rights of privacy and the transparency and accountability. i think we are relearning or re-emphasizing that security

absolutely is essential in our society, but we need to be mindful that the american values and rights that we protect make us more open and transparent and we need to preserve those great values. >> i want to read to you something that was in "the new york times." quote, some analysts and congressional officialed suggested on friday a good way to avert attention over the uproar of the data collection programs and that if it showed the intercepts had shown a plot, even the better. let me play what peter king had to say. >> absolutely crazy to say any sxi conspiracy here. the government would have been totally negligent to not take the actions it took. >> i think representative king is right there was no conspiracy, at least i don't have any evidence that there was to try to divert attention from the concerns that i and others have raised about the transparency and accountability

and it certainly won't divert me and others. we need to strike a balance. there's no question is that we need to emphasize security but we can have both liberty and security and the vast invisible powers exercised by our government emphasize the need for preserving these rights and opening, for example, as i proposed, the fisa court so that it's opinions and rulings are made public so that we have an adversarial and selecting the members of the the court that enhances it's geography and background. >> let me play this. >> opinion. 86 pages long from the fisa court that ruled that much of what the nsa is doing spying on american citizens is violation

of the fourth amendment and a violation of the statue. this opinion remains a complete secret. the fisa court said they had no objection to having it relieved but the obama administration says it has to be secret. >> what do you say to glenn gre greenwald? >> he has a point that they need to be classified if only for the sake of the appearance and credibility and trust of the american people in that institution. if you were to say that a court operates in secret, issues opinions in secret, its deliberations are all secret, its judges are secret in all of the work they do, it sounds a lot like the kind of star chamber or proceedings that existed at the time of our revolution and our rebellion against england. this court is a black box. it needs to be opened and at

least some ways so that trust and credibility are maintained and enhanced, which is the reason for my proposal that there be be an adversarial process and opinions be disclosed and classified and that there be a different method of selecting. all consistent with national security and i emphasize consistent with national security. we need to strike that balance. >> senator richard blumenthal, thank you for coming on today. >> thank you. >> let me go back to the "the new york times" quote because so much controversy over the nsa. this going to put questions to rest about these nsa programs or not? >> i don't think so. i think this senator from my home state said it right, that in the end, americans deserve to have some clear answers here. i'm a very strong advocate of making sure we do what we to protect this country but at the same time consistent with revealing the information that

the court itself wants to reveal. >> edward snowden is living in russia and granted asylum for a year. we learned if nothing changes, president obama plans to skip his one-on-one meeting with putin. we had chuck schumer and paul ryan agreeing on something there should be consequences. in fact, yesterday, schumer suggested that ally should be urged to move the g-20 summit away from st. petersburg. will there be consequences on skipping this one-on-one? >> we have supply lines for our troops in afghanistan. we need russia's cooperation. those would have real consequences. and more broadly i would agree with the ambassador. in the middle east, we are not going to get by on just drone strikes and just eavesdropping. we have got to engage more in the countries and train more local security forces and work on more economic development. the economies are terrible in this part of the world. we can't do it with drones and

eavesdropping. we need more. >> thank you, gentlemen, for coming on. i appreciate it. >> sure. the countdown is on. less than two hours yankee third baseman alex roged is suspected to be suspended for his association with the biogenesis steroid scandal. nearly a dozen other players will face the music as well. a-rod will likely appeal any suspension and could clear the way for him to play tomorrow night against the chicago white sox. we will have much more of this coming up in our next half hour. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. it's great. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. at&t mobile share for business. one bucket of data for everyone on the plan, unlimited talk and text on smart phones. now, everyone's in the spirit of sharing. hey, can i borrow your boat this weekend? no. [ male announcer ] share more. save more. at&t mobile share for business. ♪

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this morning, thousands of fast food workers are waiting and hoping that their one day strikes will win them better wages. what began in new york has caught fire and it's grown to six other cities around the country. strikers are pushing for more than double what they are making

now. $15 an hour. saying it's impossible to survive on the minimum wage. so can these protests work? i'm joined now by mary kay hendrick president of the service employee national union when is organizings these protests. your union has been supporting these fast food workers. has there been any sign at all that these companies which include some of the best known names in american are willing to budge? >> no. you've heard the restaurant association say that this is a business practice, that low wages are the way they decide to serve the food. so part of what i think is so inspiring, chris, is these workers are challenging that basic principle in our economy, which is the only jobs that have been created in the -- since the recession are these low wage jobs and i think what the workers are doing is saying they can't survive on $7.25 in new york or $7.35 in st. louis, or

$8 in chicago. i think as a nation, we have to confront whether we are going to make income and equality the number one problem that we need to solve so people can support themselves and families on. >> a lot of fast food workers earn the minimum wage. the median pay is over $9. what they want is $15. i know you know what industry officials are saying. they say a wage hike that big could drive some folks out of business and, in other cases, force them to replace workers with automation. i guess the question is there a real risk that, all of a sudden, we are going to walk into a fast food restaurant and it's touch screen ordering? all of those people who had jobs behind the counter are going to lose them? >> there are 4 million people that are employed by fast food industry in this nation and mcdonald's one of the leading companies in this country maid $5.8 billion in profits last

year and they are recording record gains since the recovery. so the question, i think, is, okay, if not $15, what do the companies think they can afford to pay workers? we support the workers demand for $15 an hour and want to hear from the most profitable multinational corporations in the world. why not? >> don't you think it's more realistic that fast food prices will go up? >> i think it's possible to imagine how both consumers, the employers, the workers figure out a way to make sure that low wage jobs in this economy are jobs that become good jobs. just like at the turn of the last century, manufacturing jobs were not good jobs and workers coming together helped make those jobs good jobs. and i think that fast food workers are a beacon of hope, that we can make sure as a nation that 50% of our jobs by the year 2020 are low wage jobs.

workers are going to be able to change that and make good jobs that people can feed their families on. >> let me quickly give you a chance to answer critics who have said union membership just 11% of the work force. it's lowest point in nearly a century. seiu and other unions are basically helping fast food workers to protest and get them unionized and make themselves more relevant. >> my response is siu is joined by clergy leaders across the nation. this is not about growing unions. this is about our nation respecting the value of work again, and helping workers come together and restore their ability to bargain with employers and be able to work hard for a living, expect to do better, and have a life where we can pass something on that is better for our children. and that basic promise has been broken in this economy.

this is way beyond the question of an institutional interest of a union. this is about how work pays again in our economy. >> seiu president mary kay, thank you for coming on. >> thank you. italian tourist was killed after a man drove his car on a boardwalk in venice beach on saturday night. they describe him as a transi t transient. his moat testify is still unknown but his bail has been set at $1 million. what are you doing back there? ow! that hurt! no, no, no, no. you can't go to school like this, c'mon. don't do it! no! (mom vo) you never know what life's gonna throw at you. if i gotta wear clothes, you gotta wear clothes. (mom vo) that's why i got a subaru. i just pulled up. he did what now?

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the ones getting involved and staying engaged. they're not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is "how did i end up here?" i started schwab for those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. we're so choosy about the cuts of beef that meet our higher kosher standards that only a slow-motion bite can capture all that kosher delight. and when your hot dog's kosher, that's a hot dog you can trust. hebrew national. to politics now. fancy farm kentucky hosted the senate hopefuls this weekend. mitchell mcconnell took jabs from the left and right.

>> i don't intend to run to the right of mitch mcconnell. i don't intend to run to the left of mitchell mcconnell. i intend to run straight over the top of mitch mcconnell and right into the u.s. senate and with your help, we are going to do that. >> let's just tell it like it is. if the doctor told senator mcconnell that he had a kidney stone, he would refuse to pass it! >> as long as i'm in the senate, kentucky will have a voice instead of san francisco and martha's's vineyard. >> this afternoon, new york city mayoral candidate anthony weiner will unveil his brand-new book "even more keys to the city." he spent the weekend insisting he is no longer sexting. maybe new york city should go with the same strategy as this young 4-year-old. he was elected mayor. it's not really an election.

the mayor has no official duties and they are picked at random. the population fluctuates between 22 and 28 people. but his name keeps getting pulled out of the hat. a handful of governors broke out their biker letter this weekend in milwaukee. both scott walker and mary fallon dressed the part for the party. it was at the harley davidson mutual. in an interview with chris witherspoon, oprah talked about her role in the film and how the role will impact the obama presidency. >> it's so easy during this time, trayvon martin parallel to emmitt till. in my mind, same thing. but you can get stuck in that and not allow yourself to move forward and to see how far we have come. look at how far we have come.

>> that full interview with oprah will be up on the grio shortly. in case you missed it this weekend the big mars 1 meeting was held in washington, d.c. and it brought together 50 people who hoped to become the first human martianmartians. it's described as excited discussions blended with nerdy banter. would you volunteer to go to mars? it's my must read and, oh, did i mention that if you go, you don't come back? it's up on our facebook page at facebook/jansingco. [ female announcer ] made just a little sweeter...

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the scandal surrounding san diego mayor bob filner is growing. a tenth woman has now come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment. those unwanted sexual advances have been described by the women as kissing, groping, even placing one former employee in a head-lock. today, filner begins two weeks of intensify treatment at a clinic as calls for his

resignation continue to grow. knsd brandy powell joins me. what do we know about this tenth victim, brandy? >> good morning, chris. >> reporter: what we are learning about this tenth victim is she is saying she had these unwanted advances from mayor bob filner. she has stopped short of calling it sexual harassment specifically to nbc but she said she didn't ask the mayor to stop those advances because, quite frankly, she was uncomfortable opinion this happened at the end of july at a la jolla church when she said he got close to her and kept giving her compliments that didn't seem appropriate. he was engaged and the woman herself was married. >> he was at a church. the mayor filner begins two weeks of behavioral counseling. what happens when he is gone? >> that is the big question, you know, this weekend at poltifest where a lot of the lawmakers talked about what is sort of

next. they are actually on city council about a month break so they won't be convening. if the mayor somehow decides to resign, which he has given no indication of so far, that our council president would court of take over. what is interesting there is no provision in that city code for san diego that allows for somebody else to take over. so he essentially still is the boss of san diego while he is in this behavior modification treatment, and, at that time, he'll return august 19th. there are some, of course, who are saying, let's give him a chance, maybe he'll change. many, however, i've been talking with constituents and voters are asking him to resign. >> brandi powell, thank you so much. i want to bring in patricia saunders, a clinical psychologist. good to have you here. >> good morning. >> i want to play what the communications director for mayor filner had to say just to give people an idea of what some of these indicatioact sayingcus.

i saw him place his hands where they did not belong on numerous women. i was placed in the filner head-lock and moved around as a rag doll as he whispered sexual comments in my ear. we did not have a relationship other than work. that is all i wanted and i never gave him any reason to think otherwise. what is therapy look like, two-week therapy for someone who may be doing these kind of things? >> for my profession, it's an embarrassment. i haven't interviewed this guy so i can't really diagnosis him officially, but these sorts of behaviors of compulsive, demeaning, shaming in public, fonding, whispering obscenities to women speaks to what used to be called sexual per version, is now called paraphelia.

there is something really wrong with this guy's judgment, that he doesn't realize putting somebody in a head-lock and fondling should not be done in public and should not be done in church. >> let me read a l.a. times op-ed. filner and to some extent weiner and abedin fall into the category of therapy seekers with a mission and they are helping themselves so they can continue to help others, translation, hold on to their careers. amid the debate about their sincerity and in filner's case whether years of creepiness can be cured in two week, at least one point seems to be getting ignored. most therapy just isn't that effective. is that fair? i mean, the one thing that i thought was if you didn't already know that putting somebody in a head-lock and whispering sexual things in their ear who you work with isn't a good idea, i don't know that two weeks is going to change that. >> no, it's not.

behavior therapists claim that they can teach people how to inhibit impulsive behavior in two-week treatment. if you've got a simple symptom like spider phobia or a fear of flying, they can do that, but not with these complex personality disorders. it is impossible. the rate of recovering approach 90%. if there is any treatment to be done and he has to be motivated, the person has to be motivated for reasons other than keeping a job or keeping a public face, then they really need a combination of certain medications to help them inhibit impulses and long-term therapy with constant supervision. you really can't cure these. >> overnight, right? clinical psychologist patricia saunders, thank you for coming in.

>> thank you. news feed this morning. closing arguments begin in the trial of james whitey bulger. the notorious boston mobster facing 32 counts including 19 murder charges for his decades long ring in the boston underground. he is not expected to testify. we are xepg high courtroom drama when the military trial for accused ft. hood shooter hassan begins tomorrow. he faces 13 counts of premeditated murder. 32 counts of attempted murder. in the 2009 mass shooting that is considered one of the worst massacres in u.s. history. among those taking the stand to face hasan will be luns ford whose injuries including blind in his left eye and traumatic brain injury. missy franklin swam to a six gold medal in barcelona last night. with that the 18-year-old becomes only the fifth swimmer to win six golds in either the world's or an olympics. missy is a terrific person as

well as swimmer has given up potentially millions of dollars for endorsements to compete for cal berkeley where she is starting school this fall. we wish her well there as well. 554 acre eyelid in the caribbean or lamb ba twinkies. thought you saw the last of shark nato? think again. this weekend the viral hit sold out in three major cities. new york, boston, seattle. people you can watch it for free on television! they even had to add show times to meet the fan demand. no need to worry. it is not going away. they are ordered a 2014 version. high profile dispute left

millions of time warner cable customers without cbs and showtime. mandy drury is here with what is moving your money. we are hearing a blackout could last ten days or maybe into september? >> we don't know at this stage. you're right. approximately 3.5 million customers are affected by this. apparently the two companies do not appear at this juncture to be close to settling their dispute over fees so time warner has dropped cbs which is the number one rated u.s. broadcast network. and it really stunned gold fans who missed the victory yesterday and a lot of people were annoyed. cbs says it is ready to negotiate in good faith. time warner cable says it regrets the inconvenience to awful your viewers and hopes to resolve the situation as soon as possible. we have to wait and see. i should mention, apparently programming blackouts are becoming increasingly common.

>> let's talk about something that i'm going to file away under this makes me feel old. the days could be numbered for the car cd player. >> feels like only yesterday. we had those eight-track players in our car and also cassette players. >> where did they even find that picture? >> there is a cassette player! >> the car cd player is apparently going to have the same fate. several car models that are phasing out the cd players on the dashboard. the smart cars, because it basically is saying the dashboard is really hot property. it's been crammed with things we increasingly use like gps and touch and computer screen and a lot of us on getting our music through ipods and i believe you can order an optional cd players in like jeeps or cadillacs.

>> now you have to pay extra? >> but it's in the glove department or in the middle but somewhere other than the dashboard because it is a pretty crammed hot property right now. >> cnbc mandy drury, thank you. a list of top picks for the 25 no influential women in the gop. here they are. the number one most influential woman in the gop new hampshire senator kelly ayotte. yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. yeah?

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thermometers that takes the temperature of voter attitudes toward politicians including potential 2016 presidential

contenders. new jersey governor chris christie is as hot as gets followed by former secretary of state hillary clinton. they are followed by president obama and senator ted cruz. other potential 2016 candidates registered including senator rubio, vice president biden, governor o'maly and senator paul. o'malley says he is laying out the framework for a run in 2016. and on "meet the press," santorum said he could give it another go. >> i'm open to looking at a presidential race in 2016, but got take alittle ways. we have got elections in 2014. >> rick tyler and also jamaal simmons. good to see you guys. good morning. rick, chris krae on the latest

cover of "new york" magazine. he tops this new poll which measures sentiment more than who voters said they would actually vote for. i think what is notable is among republican voters, christie ranks eighth. paul ryan comes out on top when it's republican voters. is this a sign of a divide in the republican party? what do you make of those kinds of numbers? >> the republican party often gets accused of not having a big tent but it seems to me we have more diversion in the republican party than anywhere else. i think we could fill 24/7 with the opinions of the republican party and couldn't fill half a segment with two democrats who disagree on any given subject. in the end, it's important. chris christie was elected by the people of new jersey and paul ryan is probably the intellectual one of our party. while we are accused of being

inclusive, i think we are the best party and i think that is good for our party. >> what do you think about that, jamaal? do you think that having a good open debate as opposed to the democrats is a better thing? >> you can say they are having an open debate or you can say they don't have a vision that most people in america agree with and maybe the democrats have figured out a way to actually talk to the people in the country about where we are, what we face, and how to get us moving. there are ladders of success that people need so we broaden the economic opportunity for americans and democrats have been focused on that the last couple of years ever since the president announced a stimulus plan to the speeches he gave last week. we have been trying to broaden the base of that for americans. republicans have been fighting with each other about how to shut down government, how to not do things and how to stop the obama health care. there is no positive agenda that americans have from the republican party. >> i do not -- >> i just want to ask you about rick santorum because i thought it was interesting. he was very open about what his thoughts were yesterday.

we have had some people on the program who are close to him who had suggested even in the past couple of weeks that he was seriously thinking about this. he is going to spend three days in iowa later this week. rick santorum, he is getting in it to win? he is getting in it to have a conversation? he is not held public office in a while. what is this about? >> rick santorum was really the last man standing before mitt romney got the nomination the last cycle. he probably feels romney wasn't in the race or a different opinion he probably could have won it and he is trying to see if there is a way to make a run again. >> do you think there is? >> i don't know. we will see what the voters think. >> we know where the base is. is there a base on the democratic side for hillary clinton, jamaal. what are the chances she runs? if not -- was it smart for martin o'malley to signal he is moving closer to getting in? i think we are 1,190 days until the election. >> look. it looks a lot like hillary

clinton is planning to run. her organizers, her friends are organizing ready for hillary, including harold dickey who says nobody is closer to the clintons than he is and he is a part of that movement. whether she chooses to or not she will have a table set and the car gassed up and ready to go if she wants to get in it. the question from martin o'malley, why not run? great chance that maybe hillary clinton chooses not to do it and if she does maybe something happens and she is not successful. the last time a big democrat ran with another one, john edwards he got chosen to be the vice presidential nominee for john kerry. he could be the front-runner for 2020. >> go ahead. >> i would love to see martin o'malley run. we only have seven of the top healthiest counties in america and he has figured it out. no taxes never left untaxed. the only thing to left untaxed is tax itself. it's a national disgrace. we should have the other ten counts 10 out of 10.

we mow martin gets elected. >> i think the talking points are ready to go! rick tyler and jamaal sim onmon thank you for joining us. power said honored to sit behind the sign that says united states and stand up for american values and interests at the u.n. now, would you go? man: 'oh i can't go tonight' woman: 'i can't.' hero : that's what expedia asked me. host: book the flight but you have to go right now. hero: (laughs) and i just go? this is for real right? this is for real? i always said one day i'd go to china, just never thought it'd be today. anncr: we're giving away a trip every day. download the expedia app and your next trip could be on us. expedia, find yours. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ]

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in just about an hour, we are expecting a huge announcement from major league baseball on the fate of alex rodriguez and a dozen other ballplayers. sources tell nbc news that the embattled yankees star will be suspended for the remain ter de the season and likely the 2014 season. this has it all. money, fame, record and lies and the great american pastime. rob, good to see you. good morning. >> good morning. >> it seems to me there a little bit of a legacy versus legacy here. you've got a defiant a-rod who

could be in the lineup tonight gunds the commissioner bud selig who knows it happened under his watch. he suspends a-rod and what happens after that? >> alex rodriguez will likely announcing he will suspend this appealing and that is a process that could take up to a month. what is odd during that appeal process, alex rodriguez most likely will be able to play games. in fact, the yankees have him penciled into their lineup tonight in chicago which would make it an awkward night, i think, in economy. that appeals process will take place and arbitrator will decide how long the suspension will be. is it 214 games baseball is asking for or fewer amount of games. if it is 214 games the suspension could end up lapsing all the way into the 2015 season because of the time it will take to get the appeal done. a lot still to be determined

here. >> we know that a-rod played that's two tune-up games in trenton this weekend. he wasn't exactly humble and he took this swipe at the yankee organization. >> there is is a lot of layers. i will say this. there's more than one party that benefits from me not ever stepping back on the field and that is not my teammates and it's not the yankee fans. >> who is it? who benefits? >> i can't tell you. i can't tell you that right now. and i hope i never have to. >> do you think that's a factor in what is going on? >> i'll let you decide that. >> in some way, rob, is major league baseball counting on the fact that public opinion will be on their side, or is that not a huge consideration here? >> it's definitely a consideration. and i think what you said at the start about legacies is exactly right. bud selig knows the steroids era is in the first paragraph of his legacy as commissioner. he'd like to be known as the

commissioner that got rid of steroids in baseball as opposed to the commissioner who essentially oversaw the steroid era. that is a big part of this. alex rodriguez in the quote you just played is talking about the new york yankees, the team he plays for which does have a lot to gain from him being suspended. the amount of time between this year and the end of next year that they would save in salary if a-rod is suspended is $34 million. and that is a lot of money for the yankees, especially because a-rod is not a very productive player right now. so they would be more than happy, at least financially, to see him suspended. >> right now, they are not in the best situation. put on your sports psychologist hat. this is a guy who was born, it seems to me, to play baseball. all that talent. why juice? >> it's a great question, especially because this current scandal all happened after a-rod signed a $275 million guaranteed contract in 2007. so he didn't have to juice. and he still would have made all

of that money. he put the money at risk by cheating. clearly there's something in the athlete's mind. it was a case for barry bonds and others that he wants to be the best on the field. he wants to break all of the records that he was expected to break when the yankees signed him to that contract, they thought he would break the all-time home run record. clearly ego is a big factor as to why these players cheat and that is really the only possible explanation for alex rodriguez. >> rob of nbc sport radio, great to talk to you. the countdown is here, just one hour. that is it for me. thomas roberts is up next. [ whispering ] uh! i had a nightmare!

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i'm thomas roberts. u.s. interviewees and consulates in 19 cities overseas will remain closed until saturday. 15 from sat and four new ones today as new details about the threat of a possible terror attack has emerged. the state department extend is these closures saying not because of new threat but out of abundance of caution. the intelligence committee says that intelligence shows this threat is big. >> we have received information that high level people from al qaeda and the arabian peninsula are talking about a major attack and these are people at a high level. >> a global travel warning for americans is going to stay in place until the end of the month. nbc justice correspondent pete williams joins me now. bring us up to speed on the latest and a lot of the intel is coming around the end of rahm a

dan which is the medal of this week. >> reporter: right. i think it's the concern here is based on who was talking about this. senior people in al qaeda in yemen which has shown a desire and the capability of carrying out attacks against the west. so it's who is talking about it that is the number one concern here. but, still, no detail about when or where or how or against whom, or exactly how this would be carried out. so state has extended the closing of 19 embassies. these are as you just showed the map, mostly north africa and the middle east. the state department says many of these would be normally closed for a couple of days during this week any way because of the high holy days around the end of ramadan. then reopening nine of the consulates and embassies that were originally closed on sunday including kabul and afghanistan and baghdad and